Standing cypress

And now for the second day in a row here’s a wildflower you haven’t seen in these pages before: this time it’s Ipomopsis rubra, known as standing cypress and Texas plume. I imagine the cypress and the plume are both references to the plant’s feathery leaves, which you can see best at the bottom of the picture, while the standing clearly refers to the plant’s stiff stalk and erect posture. Isn’t it strange, though, that neither of those common names makes any mention of the prominent flowers? In any case, we can go back to the standing and say that these saturated red flowers do an especially good job of standing out against a clear blue sky like the one I worked under on the morning of May 22. (The scientific name for the plant, by the way, does get at the red, which is what rubra means in Latin; a third vernacular name, red Texas star, also makes the point.)

The location was the north side of RR 2222, a busy road that winds its way through the Hill Country on Austin’s west side. And speaking of location, I was surprised when I looked at the USDA map and found that this species grows across much of the eastern United States and even into Ontario. So much for the Texas in Texas plume and red Texas star.

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I’d seen these plants flowering by the side of the road on the 19th when we were on the way to a friend’s house. I took advantage of the clear morning of the 22nd to go back to the site and get down low enough to use the blue sky as a complement to the red flowers.

[…] verticality so predominant (oh, how these art people talk!) in yesterday’s picture of a standing cypress inspires me to double up now and show you a second upright species, Schoenocaulon texanum, known as […]

Well, well… A little Latin apparently is good for the soul, since I just had a revelation. Rubra is the root of the word “rubric”. I just learned that back in medieval times – and even later – liturgical rules and instructions were written in red – hence, “rubrics”.

Now, back to the flower, which is a real beauty. I’ve been thinking how few clear red wildflowers there are – now I see this (new to me) after just yesterday walking around the corner of a house and discovering a patch of Turk’s Cap. The world as learning lab is a wonderful thing!

Sorry Steve- got carried away with the Like button! I was scrolling through the Home page and admiring your amazing collection. I never would have realised Texas had such diversity, with all that heat. I have a friend in Dallas, so am happy she’ll be able to see these.

As I see it, there’s never any need to apologize for leaning on the like button. Yes, Texas is hot, but the native plants here are hardy, and it’s even the case that some of them don’t do well unless they get lots of direct sunshine and heat. Things are toned down now in July and August, but a second season of wildflowers will come up in the fall.

[…] the contrast between these two oh-so-different relatives, you’re welcome to look back at a view from last year that gives you a good sense of how tall and slender a standing cypress plant is, and how splendid […]